Counting Crows and the NBA

Spending a pleasant Friday afternoon on the couch watching a DVD of a Counting Crows show from Tulsa last year. They've really had the mojo going the last year or so, ever since Duritz lost weight and went back to the "August..." era dreads as opposed to the pineapple head thing. I got the show from Crowstown, which remains the best place to make use of the wonders of bit torrent and listen to some live Crows. Their show from a couple of weeks ago at the Bowery Ballroom was/is incredible - two sets, two+ hours, a set of classics and a large-scale unveiling of their new album, Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings. It's shaping up to be their best work since at least Recovering the Satellites, and possibly since August. Duritz says it's an exploration of his disintegration and the process of putting himself back together. Pre-order currently available from Amazon.

Also, my buddy Beaneball has a huge post about all the NBA deadline deals. I'm just starting to get back into the NBA after recovering from the NFL season (have I mentioned that my favorite team won the greatest Super Bowl ever in the biggest upset ever?), but this Western Conference looks like one of the greatest assemblages of talent ever in a single season. It's a shame that one of these teams will have to miss the playoffs (please let it be the dull Rockets and not the super-awesome Warriors). I'm pretty excited to check out the Suns with Shaq on Sunday against Detroit - as much as everyone has bashed that trade, it was (apparently) obvious that the Suns didn't particularly like each other, and shipping out Marion may improve them by subtracting his attitude. I loved that Suns team, but as long as they basically maintain their pace, this isn't selling out their principles, as some have suggested; it's an upgrade that makes them a better contender. More on Sunday if I can actually make it through a full basketball game for the first time this season.